Coral vs Island vs Star, which is best?

[grandmaC123]

Another question ... I read that you can bring one bottle of wine per person, is this true?

 

 

 

Yes u can

 

 

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[Princess@Sea]

Not Island for sure.

 

[mr green]

Coral first, then Star, but while I have never sailed on Island, from reports that I have read she would be a very bad third.

[knbcruisers]

Not Island for sure.

 

 

 

 

Seriously....who thought that rear view was a good idea? Must have been designed by a committee with no concept of the value of aft views!

 

 

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[ckrcjr]

Having sailed on all 3 ships, I would definitely give the edge to the Star. We recently completed our 3rd Alaskan cruise - and it was on the Star - and our best cruise ever. I believe Captain Tuvo is returning to the Star and he will make a great cruise a fantastic cruise. Never have had a captain as enjoyable as he is - he is amazing. Our second choice would be the Coral if we could not sail on the Star.

[Gnomey]

Did California coastal on Island followed by Alaska on Coral this May. Island is not pretty from behind and the extra cabins have ruined it, at times we felt cramped with the extra passengers. Coral handled the passengers easily and seemed more comfy. Staff on Island were much better than on Coral. Both cruises were most enjoyable.

[UpcountryTravelers]

Been on all three. Coral! Definitely.

[cruisejunkie]

Went on Star last August and loved her. We did land first and southbound cruise.

[retrembl]

Hello! I'm planning a cruise to Alaska as a surprise for my husband's 30th birthday and am having a difficult time choosing between the three Princess ships. I originally wanted to book the Star but the representative I spoke to recommended the island. After researching that more I found the coral and am now thinking that may

 

be a better option.

 

Things I know we want:

 

One way sail, northern seems preferred from reviews

July or August travel

Adult oriented - we are leaving our baby behind and would prefer a more relaxing atmosphere with some nightlife

Good food

Observation areas

 

They all seem to offer similar port stops so I'm not picky about those but am open to recommendations. I'd love to hear from others that have traveled on one or more of these ships recently (<1 year).

 

Thank you kindly for your honest input!

Island princess has been chopped up to add more cabins.

My choice is Ciral

[frugaltravel]

Glad that you chose a ship!

 

 

Coral or Star.

I would avoid the Island. The Island was a sister ship of the Coral when built. During the Island's last dry dock the Universe Lounge and mostly all aft public areas, were removed to add cabins for 200+ additional passengers. No additional dining room space was added. The Island does not have the International Cafe. I would not book the Island. The Coral and Star also have much better upper deck viewing areas.

 

this is what I was going to say. I was on the Island for a PC cruise. Never again. Way too crowded with less public space and more passengers. Not just the dining room, but also the theater and other public areas were way overcrowded.

[runnerodb83]

I'm working on a pretty massive spreadsheet comparing the features of all the ships. It's not done yet, but here are some statistics about each ship - you pick what is important to you. All passenger calcs are double occupancy based. Interesting, all ships have an "overload" factor of 1.2 - meaning that when all berths are full, there are 20% more passengers.

 

• Tons per passenger (higher is better): Coral 45.8, Star 41.9, Island 41.5
  
• Passengers to crew ratio (lower is better): Coral: 2.23, Star 2.36 Island: 2.46
  
• Gross tons per cabin (higher is better): Coral 91.63, Star 83.96, Island 83.11
  
• Passengers per elevator (lower is better): Coral: 142.8, Island: 158.1, Star: 185.4
  
• Passengers per bar/drink service (lower is better): Star: 185.4, Coral: 222.2, Island 316.3
  
• Passengers per pool (lower is better): Star 519.2, Coral 666.7, Island 738
  
• Passengers per hottub (lower is better): Star 370.8, Coral 400, Island 442.8
  

[Ginnyfyr]

We have sailed Star and Coral to Alaska and enjoyed both ships. I would choose Star over Coral only because Coral does not have Vines wine bar and we are wine lovers...we missed Vines on our Coral sailing :wine-glass: Otherwise, both are great ships. Coral was the first Princess ship we've sailed on that had Bayou Cafe instead of Crown Grill as an a la carte restaurant. It was nice to try something new and we really enjoyed the offerings at Bayou Cafe.

 

Having sailed out of Vancouver three times, I strongly suggest you look into how many other ships are in port on your embarkation and debarkation days - it can really get congested there (Google Port of Vancouver cruise schedule). On our last Alaskan cruise in September of this year, there was such a long line for taxis on the return trip that we actually missed our return flight! You can bring on as many bottles of wine as you want but anything beyond the first 2 bottles will be stickered and charged a corkage fee when you board. If you're planning to pick up wine in Vancouver, there are a couple of liquor stores within walking distance of Canada Place. It's super easy to drop your luggage at CP and then walk over to a liquor store. Our preferred one is the BC Liquors on Bute Street - it's probably a 15-20 minute walk from the cruise pier but they have a bigger selection than the other BC Liquor store in the mall on West Hastings Street (granted, we are not locals so there may be other/better choices near the pier - this is just from our experience).

[stocks]

Star we have sailed on the star for over 100 days .

 

Don

[c-boy]

I'm working on a pretty massive spreadsheet comparing the features of all the ships. It's not done yet, but here are some statistics about each ship - you pick what is important to you. All passenger calcs are double occupancy based. Interesting, all ships have an "overload" factor of 1.2 - meaning that when all berths are full, there are 20% more passengers.

 

 

• Tons per passenger (higher is better): Coral 45.8, Star 41.9, Island 41.5
  
• Passengers to crew ratio (lower is better): Coral: 2.23, Star 2.36 Island: 2.46
  
• Gross tons per cabin (higher is better): Coral 91.63, Star 83.96, Island 83.11
  
• Passengers per elevator (lower is better): Coral: 142.8, Island: 158.1, Star: 185.4
  
• Passengers per bar/drink service (lower is better): Star: 185.4, Coral: 222.2, Island 316.3
  
• Passengers per pool (lower is better): Star 519.2, Coral 666.7, Island 738
  
• Passengers per hottub (lower is better): Star 370.8, Coral 400, Island 442.8
  

:confused: you wouldn't happen to be a corporate accountant?

[Woobstr112G]

I would choose the Star due to the tremendous aft views around the aft pool. I have never sailed the Coral/Island but even if I had, my vote would still be a Grand class ship.....:):):)

 

Bob

[xlxo]

Yes you can bring one bottle of wine per person.

And wine is sold in different sizes...

• http://winefolly.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/wine-bottle-sizes-red-wine.jpg
  
• https://hinoswine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/britain-wine-2011-11-17-8-21-7-1024x585.jpg
  

[runnerodb83]

:confused: you wouldn't happen to be a corporate accountant?

nope, not a statistician either, but do enjoy it finding some of the hidden truths in statistics.

 

While I personally love the Coral, the grand class ships always seem to have a really nice ratio of amenities to passengers (well the amenities i like anyways).

[rentlady]

Coral! The island was taken to dry dock and it was awful afterwards. Cabins installed where public areas used to be. This left us feeling very compacted.